Age-friendly environments and psychosocial wellbeing: a study of older urban residents in Ireland

ABSRACT Objective: This article aims to estimate the association between age-friendly urban environments and psychosocial wellbeing in adults aged 55+ living in four Irish cities. Method: Data is from the Healthy and Positive Ageing Initiative 'Age-friendly Cities and Counties Survey' from four cities; Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Galway (n = 2,094). The Age-friendly Urban Index (AFUI), a perception-based measure of safety, access to services, and walkability, is used to measure urban environment quality on a scale of 35 (least favourable) to 105 (most favourable). Wellbeing was estimated using the following composite measures: quality of life (comprising hedonic (pleasure) and eudaimonic (control, autonomy, self-realisation) wellbeing); affective (depressive mood); and social (loneliness). Multivariate regression analyses (negative binomial and Poisson regression) were used to investigate the association between the AFUI and each wellbeing indicator. Models were fully adjusted for known demographic (age, gender, household structure, marital status), socio-economic (material deprivation, employment/occupation, education), social (social engagement, community activities) and health (self-rated health, mobility limitations) correlates of psychosocial wellbeing. Results: Older people living in cities with higher AFUI score were more likely to report higher quality of life overall, and higher hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. These adults also had lower depressive mood scores and reported lower loneliness levels. Results remain significant in the fully adjusted model. Limitations: Causal conclusions cannot be made because of cross-sectional data. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of the relationship between the age-friendliness (safety, services, and walkability) of urban environments and multiple aspects of psychosocial wellbeing for older adults in Ireland.